UAE versus Afghanistan ODI series starts Friday, November 28th

UAE versus Afghanistan ODI series starts Friday, November 28th

Series consists of two day games and two day/night games. All games will be played at the ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Both teams utilising the ICC Academy’s world-class facilities to bolster their preparations ahead of 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.

UAE, Dubai, Wednesday November 26th, 2014 : UAE versus Afghanistan’s 4-game ODI series commences this Friday November 28th at the ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City, and will continue through to Thursday December 4th. The series forms part of the ICC Gatorade High Performance Programme leading into the 2015 Cricket World Cup (CWC).

David East, Emirates Cricket Board CEO commented, “Emirates Cricket Board warmly welcomes the Afghanistan Cricket Board, and players, to the UAE and we look forward to the UAE versus Afghanistan ODI series. We are proud for these teams to have the opportunity to prepare and play on the ICC Academy’s world-class facilities and surfaces, knowing it will provide all cricket-lovers with thrilling, competitive games both during training and at the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.”

The schedule for the UAE versus Afghanistan ODI series is :

Friday November 28th

Day/Night game

2pm

ICC Academy

Sunday November 30th

Day game

10am

ICC Academy

Tuesday December 2nd

Day game

10am

ICC Academy

Thursday December 4th

Day/Night game

2pm

ICC Academy

While the 2 sides won’t compete against each other in the 2015 CWC Pool games, UAE has been drawn into Pool B with Afghanistan in Pool A, both sides regard this upcoming ODI series as the litmus test of their current playing skills and athleticism. With only 11-weeks remaining before the start of the 2015 CWC (February 14th 2015) preparations are rapidly approaching a critical stage for players, coaches and selectors.

“This ODI series (against Afghanistan) is an incredibly important part of our preparations. Our recent warm-up games against high-quality Pakistan A and New Zealand A provided us with valuable information on what our coaching, and sports science teams need to focus on and fine-tune as we move into the final stages of UAE’s training programme. Against Afghanistan we will be on a more level playing field, so we expect to see vast improvements from the UAE players and the team as a whole” said Will Kitchen, General Manager, ICC Academy and UAE Cricket High Performance Manager

“We are very pleased with the commitment, and progress shown by the UAE players not only from the recent 3-week intense training camp, but how they approached and played against much higher ranked teams in Pakistan A and New Zealand A.” “It is also important to recognise the investment and commitment made by our players’ employers who work with the ECB to ensure the UAE has the best cricketers available to train, through every method available, and ultimately represent the UAE at the Cricket World Cup.” added East.